Solidworks

Good idea. Teachers love that.

Does anyone have a 3D model of a Bosch 750?

I made drawings of TANs drivesystem in Solidworks, but i still need the motors to finish it.

can i use solidworks to estimate weights of 3d parts designed in the progamme

Yes it is possable. My computer is in repair at the moment else i could give a better description.
You need to select the material. and then i believe you go to the menu tools and then click on mass properties. This will show the mass, but make sure you check if the used density is right.

In the feature tree on the left, you have at the top of all, Material - Right click - Change material.
If an object is made out several other materials, you can change the density by going into Tools - Mass properties - Options... - Use cusom settings.

Here you can also change from Milligrams to Kilograms. Millimeters to Centimeters and so on.

Has anyone other that me used Autodesk Inventor? Its a great and easy package.

I use Inventor... it does require a fairly meaty pc to run well though.

Yep use Inventor 2008, have got 2009 but its not very stable on any of the systems we have at work. I would agree with Mike very easy to pick up as long as you are unfamiliar with 2d cad.

I love the way that you can unfold sheet metal designs, send the drawings to the cutting and folding shop and have the parts in your hands. 2D CAD? I use a lot of 2D CAD and I have no problem with Inventor. BTW, If I remember correctly, John used Inventor to design Beta and even Storm II was designed with Inventor.

I even used Inventor to design the RoboDome arena and send the various part drawings to various engineering shops. All we had to do was weld the parts that were sent to us. All very neat and simple.

Mike.

whats the retail on inventor im looking for a newer cad package